Obesity: Far more deadly than eating disorders, yet increasingly socially acceptable.

reply to post by Flighty


Thank you for your thoughts, they are valid if only anecdotal.

I think that abandoned children is probably about 1/2 the reason. The other is lazy parents who can't say no, and give their kids whatever snacks they ask for, or think that letting them eat whatever they want is giving them a better life than what they grew up with.

And part of what I see as the "acceptableness" of being fat, that I didn't think of earlier, is that there seems to be a cult-like surrounding "on a diet." That some people never get past that, to a healthy state, because they are caught up on the emotional high of being the person struggling on the diet.

[edit on 28-10-2008 by asmeone2]

Regardless of any kind of harm that is inflicted, I believe in the freedom that is personal liberty.

It's not so much that I "accept" it so much as I simply believe it isn't my right to have a say in the matter.

I wish every one had optimal health. But I want every one to achieve that through good practice from their own free will.

Im realy sick and tired of having peoples opinions shoved down my throat. sure being fat is unhealthy. but so is breathing in some places. come on people realy? what gives anyone the right to tell me what i should look like

Whatever happen to social responsibility? Fewer people seem to be able to accept the fact that they and only they are responsible for being obese. Maybe in the case of children a parent could be held responsible.. People tend to blame the fast food restaurant. Nobody is forcing them to eat there. People blame it on hereditary. Granted hereditary may be possible. However it is also possible that one can limit the amount of food they eat and make exercise a part of their daily life. People blame their parents. Maybe when they were small they had a good excuse but once they reach a certain age the excuse is over. They also have a choice of limiting their food intake and exercising.

Life is about choices and many people choose to be Obese because they refuse to make the sacrifice needed in order to not be obese.

BTW, my name is jam321 and I am Obese by 10-20 pounds.....but not for long. I take full responsibility for my current shape and aim to correct myself. If I continue to be complacent with my weight I realize that before long I will be 20-40 pounds overweight. The more weight I put on the harder it will be to make the necessary sacrifices to take it off.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I lost 65 lbs a few years back and actually became depressed.

I resented any remarks about my new look.

Reason being is that I was treated completely differently, even by people I knew for a long time. All of a sudden my guy friends liked me. I got treated better by others. All of a sudden
Not to mention the difference in how the public treats you.
And that was only 65 lbs. I can't imagine those who have a lot more go through.

The reason for hte dreppression? few accepted me the way I was. And just becuase I was in a different wrapper, they treated me better.
It was a wake up call on how much peopel judge you on your appearence.

A psychologist friend of mine told me it happens with women who get breasts implants too. and end up getting them removed.

Maybe some overweight people feel this way. Health aside, if someone is their friend and likes them, then they know that person truly likes them for who they are, and not what they are.


The annoying part was that after I lost the weight, then people started harping on me for being too thin. Stop losing weight they kept saying.

So no matter what, people are going to try to control you by using your emotions regarding your size.

So do we really feel they are unhappy? Or jealous that they have awarded themselves a personal freedom that few can find who are of any size?

reply to post by nixie_nox


i have a sister that shed about 100lbs. she was with an abusive boyfriend, and when she dumped him she thought she had to lose weight to "get back in the game".

it didn't work. her life has sprialed further down since then, and now she is living with mom again. do i love her? of course, but i can't stand to be near her anymore.

the change happened with her. she became vain and obnoxious.

Now, i am not saying this is you...i am just giving another side to your story.

I, personally, would rather be with a girl that is bigger. there aren't many examples of what i refer to in the mainstream as you don't find heavy women in hollywood.

there are people out there that are accepting. don't worry about "what" you are, worry about "who" you are, and then find others than keep the same considerations.

reply to post by asmeone2


I've never seen more fat people in one place than in Disney World in Florida. Incredible. So fat they had to ride those little buggies, with their jelly-rolls being dragged along the ground either side. Then you see them stuffing fries and burgers in their mouths as if it's perfectly OK. So weird. And somewhat disgusting.

Originally posted by dave420
reply to post by asmeone2

 

I've never seen more fat people in one place than in Disney World in Florida. Incredible. So fat they had to ride those little buggies, with their jelly-rolls being dragged along the ground either side. Then you see them stuffing fries and burgers in their mouths as if it's perfectly OK. So weird. And somewhat disgusting.

Apparently you haven't shopped at Wal*Mart lately then, cuz there are fatties in powered cart baskets all over the place AND Wal*Mart has more "Handicapped" parking spots for the overweight (apparently) than any other place I have EVER seen!

EDIT: just wanted to add that fat people should have to park at the BACK of the lot, so they are forced to get exercise!



[edit on 29-10-2008 by Aggie Man]

reply to post by Aggie Man


That's a great idea - "Park 'n' Exercise" sections of parking, where fat folks can only park.

I think it has a lot to do with inactivity when I was a kid we rode bikes or walked no video games or any compelling show's on TV,I know I had a major injury,or injuries always lifted weights and walked about 3 miles a day,I used to eat like I did before the injurys,I didn't really gain any weight just that the unused muscle turned to fat,so I had to curtail my eating habits,now people say I'm too skinny but not according to Dr chart on height and weight I'm 6'2 190 lbs actually be considered overweight,but I can lift shirt up and see definition,so overweight people need to cut down their calorie intake,all that weight can lead to serious problems,if we were in the wild the fat ones would be hunted 1st,as they couldn't escape as quickly as the lighter weight ones

Obesity is an eating disorder! An over eating disorder. . .
The reason that there are so many over weight people is because of the state of the economy and the world at large. In essence they are comfort eating! Finding comfort and solice in food.

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Obesity is an eating disorder! An over eating disorder. . .
The reason that there are so many over weight people is because of the state of the economy and the world at large. In essence they are comfort eating! Finding comfort and solice in food.

Obesity has been a problem for decades. If you are going to blame it on the economy, then let's go way back to the Carter administration, perhaps earlier.

Lets see here.... Where to start.... Ive been fat all my life. at first i was ashamed of this as kids and adults alike would harass me. Now that im grown i see whats going on. The MSM tells us since we are kisd how to behave, love, hate, and even how to look. I think that it is engrained into all of our heads that fat is wrong. Unhealthy? Realy? If you think about it, its unhealthy to BREATHE in some areas, is it not? If you are so disgusted by us fat people then i believe its your own fault and you can kiss my brown starfish. Thanks to being fat i can now fight very well, have extra insulation, and will more than likely survive longer than those skinny people in the event of armageddon. Do any of you know what it feels like to walk into a room and without having said or done anything 70% of the people in the room automaticaly hate you. Whose fault is that really, since i dont mind being fat, and kind of embrace it because everyone always tells me you shouldent look like that (i always go the opposite direction than main stream?). well maybe you should all grow up.

Well its my lunch time so i got to get a cheeseburger!
peace,
MessOnTheFED!

reply to post by Oldtimer2


i agree with inactivity. In high school i ate around 10k calories a day. this supported my fanatic workout schedule (i was a blue chipper for football, and a competitive weightlifter...i got clobbered at the state powerlifting meet by marcus henry, the wrestler).

my day started in the weightroom at 5am, and ended with a 1 mile run home at 9pm so i could do whatever homework i had.

Originally posted by Aggie Man

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Obesity is an eating disorder! An over eating disorder. . .
The reason that there are so many over weight people is because of the state of the economy and the world at large. In essence they are comfort eating! Finding comfort and solice in food.

Obesity has been a problem for decades. If you are going to blame it on the economy, then let's go way back to the Carter administration, perhaps earlier.

So what you're saying is that there weren't any fat people during the Carter administration!? There's always been people who, for whatever reason, are over weight. Some of those are comfort eating because there has always been certain social injustices, money troubles and every day upsets for us all to deal with. Some go postal, some have a nervous breakdown and some turn towards their local KFC!

Great topic! And I agree that obesity is a big concern. Most of the cities with the highest obesity rates are in Texas where I live (we can thank Tex-Mex and BBQ for that I think lol). However, I think the tide is turning against obesity.

I took a few classes in nutrition in college and whenever someone asks me how they can eat healthy (I'm a gym nut and son of an obsessive healthy-eating hippy mom), I always tell them this:

Avoid the S:
Saturated fat: If it doesn't have saturated fat, it almost definitely won't have its cousin, trans fats, both of which can cause major heart problems in the future.
Sodium: salt is good in moderation, but it's also a preservative they use in almost everything in stores. Salt will whittle away at your heart health like saturated/trans fats will.
Sugar: Sugar is good when it comes from fruits and dried fruits. Other than that, it only serves to spike your insulin levels, make them crash, and then make you hungry again. Rapidly. Also, your body just loves to store sugar as fat because as an energy source, it's the easiest to break down and convert into energy.
Syrup: High fructose corn syrup? It's in EVERYTHING, but it's hoooorrible for your body. It's like the aspartame of sugar. Stay away from it.


This isn't an "S" but it's also important to avoid:

Partially hydrogenated oils: These are like the terrorists of cell tissue. They tie in to trans/saturated fats and were first used in the 30s to prolong the shelf life of Oreos. Too bad they also cause your arteries to fill up with plaque, increase bad cholesterol, lower good cholesterol, and contribute to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.


Stay away from the stuff above and stick to that pyramid you learned awhile back. Eat 100% whole grain breads, organic foods, and free range meats and you'll be fine. Make sure to look for the distinction of 100% for breads, organic for legumes/veggies/fruit/dairy, and free range for livestock/poultry.

The food industry is still very tricky and if you don't look for that exact stuff above, they will feed you the same old garbage under what you think is a healthy label.

[edit on 29-10-2008 by Avenginggecko]

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.

Originally posted by Aggie Man

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Obesity is an eating disorder! An over eating disorder. . .
The reason that there are so many over weight people is because of the state of the economy and the world at large. In essence they are comfort eating! Finding comfort and solice in food.

Obesity has been a problem for decades. If you are going to blame it on the economy, then let's go way back to the Carter administration, perhaps earlier.

So what you're saying is that there weren't any fat people during the Carter administration!? There's always been people who, for whatever reason, are over weight. Some of those are comfort eating because there has always been certain social injustices, money troubles and every day upsets for us all to deal with. Some go postal, some have a nervous breakdown and some turn towards their local KFC!

NO, what I am saying is that obesity is nothing new...nand it certainly has nothing to do with the current state of the economy, as you suggested in a previous post!

While everyone has their vice, I really can't comprehend obesity. I guess I have genes that help to keep me slender, and some people have genes which make them big boned, but it's not rocket science.

Health is drastically reduced when the BMI goes up! It's actually a simple formula to keep it down, too! When I became a young adult, was consuming a lot of alcohol, sodas & junk food. Went from 145-170 in a couple of years. I took charge of cutting this back down. It was actually fairly simple. Just took will power. I stoped drinking sodas, started eating smaller portions. Ate more fruits and veggies, and cut back on the alcohol.

Now, today, I weigh 141lbs (just checked). It's borderline underweight for my height (5' 11 1/2") , yet I feel vibrant and well.

I realize some people have genetic abnormalities which causes them to crave sugars, and certain fatty foods, but it's still within your ability to slowly change your eating habits, and go out and exersize some.

It just boggles my mind that people are okay with consuming upwards of 2000 calories in one sitting! My stomache can't handle more then 800 calories at a time and usually I'm eating far less per meal. I eat small meals and snacks every few hours, and consume almost a gallon of water a day.

People need to realize that this is an epidemic, that is causing the stereotype of the dumb, fat-pig American to continue. You could say this is a lack of empathy, but I think I have a fair grasp on the intellectual aspect of obesity, and still don't understand why, outside of gluttony, and overindulgence

reply to post by Avenginggecko


That's a very important post. I eat lots of Tex-Mex... but in small portions, without those MSG taco flavering packets, and not with a lot of meat... it's everything in moderation, again.

reply to post by unityemissions


Big boned! LOL!!! That's just a gentle way of saying FAT. People that are borne with denser or larger bones, if that is really even a genetic anomaly, are not genetically fat, they get that way through their unhealthy diets. If one was born with big bones, I would wager to say that they can be just as slender as those that are "small boned".